Sunway University’s State of the Art New Campus for the Future
Sunway University’s new university building has a wide range of excellent facilities which include outstanding lecture theatres complete with cinema standard projection and sound systems, well-equipped teaching laboratories and studios, innovative social learning spaces and a specially designed library hosting one of the biggest book collections of any private university in Malaysia as well as resources to access and exploit a wide range of digital collections. The campus also boasts a FIFA-certified synthetic turf football field and many other sporting facilities including a fully equipped gymnasium (Sun Gym). Students who joined in March 2015 commenced classes in the new campus.
Environmentally friendly and student-centric approach
The campus design is based on environmentally friendly concepts and incorporates green building attributes such as passive cooling features and low energy lightings. The east and west façades of the building used low-E glazing as a passive design strategy to reduce cooling load. The concourse is helmed by two tower wings on both sides with three auditoria hovering over it, which facilitates natural ventilation. This is further enhanced with the trickles from a water feature within the large oval courtyard, situated 4 metres below the auditoria. This design provides the basement library with natural lighting and greenery. There are also two 6-metre fans that are suspended 7 metres above the ceiling, that help to supplement air flow on hotter days.
The building uses low-E glass and aluminium shades to provide natural lighting and visual relief for students and staff, as well as reduce energy costs by paying back the extra cost of glass over seven years. The light weight of the aluminium sheets was further reduced by 40-percent perforation. Only 2-millimetre curved sheets—some measuring 3 metres by 1.5 metres—were used for the cladding of the auditorium. The double curved geometry provides rigidity and surface uniformity despite its thinness.
Community impact
In March 2015, the University hosted its first public event at the New University Building – the University of Oxford’s 4th Annual Southeast Asian Studies Symposium. This significant event also marked the University’s first major collaboration with the University of Oxford. This was the first time that this conference had been held outside of Oxford. The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Professor Nicholas Rawlins, together with the Sultan of Perak D.Y.M.M. Paduka Seri Tuanku Sultan Dr Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah were present to open the event, which saw more than 300 participants in attendance.
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